| PERTH, AUSTRALIA (TICKER) -- Martina Hingis is closing
in on a complete portfolio.
Teaming with Roger Federer, Hingis added the Hopman Cup to her list
of accomplishments Saturday, helping second-seeded Switzerland defeat the
third-seeded Americans in the final of the mixed team competition.
The world's No. 1 player, Hingis outlasted doubles partner Monica Seles,
7-5, 6-4, in 72 minutes, and Federer, the former top-ranked junior, downed
Jan-Michael Gambill, 6-4, 6-3, in a little over an hour to clinch the triumph.
With Saturday's victory, only the French Open and Federation Cup remain
missing from Hingis' resume. She already has won all the Tier I titles,
the season-ending championships and three of the four Grand Slams.
The Swiss duo will share the $240,000 first prize. Each was awarded
$25,000 diamond-encrusted tennis balls.
Hingis, 20, remained unbeaten in 14 career matches at the Hopman Cup
and improved to 23-1 in singles play, dating to last season. She improved
to 13-2 lifetime against Seles.
Federer, 19, came close to winning his first tournament in 2000, stretching
Marc Rosset and Thomas Enqvist to the limit in the finals at Marseille
and Basel, respectively.
Seles and Gambill, who claimed the mixed doubles point, were trying
to give the United States its second Hopman Cup championship. The Americans
won the title in 1997 and Switzerland took the title in 1992.
The Hopman Cup is one of several warmup events for the Australian Open,
the first Grand Slam of the year.
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